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So just got a Nissan Altima S, 2014 model from a dealership. About 30K miles on it and picked it up for around 14.5K, the car drives pretty smoothly for a 4-cylinder which is compounded by its CVT system which eliminates any shift shock from everyday street driving.

I was a bit concerned that the dealer did not know of any way to down-shift which would be a pretty major issue if the brakes were to fail going downhill, but after experimenting for quite some time, I found a switch that toggles overdrive on and off. While toggled off, it seems to have a similar gear ratio to that of my grandma's 2012 Altima when put into 2nd gear. While I am not a fan of losing so much control of the power that gets transferred from the engine to the axle, the smoothness of the drive coupled with the various features within the car at the price point puts me under the impression that it wasn't too bad of a buy.

Still that's a pretty big chunk of cash that is coming from my property fund that I will have to earn back. Plus I'll have to start paying quite a bit for shitty-a** car insurance which is a bit painful. Considering that I will likely save money on food through packing home lunches (now that almost everything on McDonald's dollar menu has almost doubled in price), it may even out just a little bit.